In Order
by scaperpeck2186
Summary: CHAPTER 6 NOW UP! A monster has plans to destroy all of the rangers, in order. Much like he did to the first set of space rangers.
1. The First to Go

In Order    Written By: Scaperpeck

Summary: A monster has plans to destroy all of the rangers, in order. Much like he did to the first set of space rangers.

Set after Zhane stays to help the rebels.

Disclaimer: PriS is owned by Buena Vista and all those other lucky ppl.

Rating: PG-13, I guess. Some implied hanky panky but not much.  TJ/Cassie and Ashley/Andros.

PS- this is my first PR fanfic, so please be kind. R&R please!

Chapter 1 – The First to Go

ON BOARD THE ASTROMEGASHIP 

            "We should have little yellow robots scooting around the floor fixing whatever breaks. Ya know, like the ones on that scifi show, what is it called?", Cassie said, going through the tool box to find the wrench TJ asked for. "Fire Escape?"

"Farscape," TJ said, in between grunts.

"Yeah, that one. That way we could focus more on fighting strategies and finding Zordon than worrying about broken sinks and reactors that keep on over-reacting."

"We?"

Cassie gently nudged TJ at the implication that she wasn't helping.  She didn't want to nudge him too hard, though.  After all, he was fixing her sink.  "Yes, WE.  I'm your assistant… and your cheerleader. GO TJ!  WOO!"

TJ laughed.  "Well, as my assistant, I think you're fired. This isn't a wrench.  They're pliers."  He glanced out from underneath the broken sink quick enough to see her indignant look.

Cassie was about to make a comment when the all-too-familiar monster alarm started to blare.  "Great timing," TJ said as he scooted, which is the best word to describe his motions in the tiny bathroom, out from underneath the sink.  Cassie gave him a hand up and they ran off to the command to meet their friends and find out what monster Astronema sent to wreck havoc on Angel Grove this time.  

Carlos was coming from the opposite direction and met them outside the door to command.  "What's going on?", he asked, as they all walked in to together.

"Quantrons in the park.  No sign of a monster, surprisingly," Ashley said, not even glancing up from the control panels in front of her. 

"That doesn't mean there won't be one," Andros said pointedly as he walked over the control panel Ashley was at. 

"Should we contact Zhane?"

"No, we won't need assistance against a couple of quantrons.  We gotta go, though. They're attacking civilians."

"Right," Cassie said, "let's go."  All five space rangers raced to the jump tubes, assumed the position, and jumped in, ready to fight what they thought would be an easy battle.

ON EARTH 

"Haven't you trash cans learned your lesson yet?", Andros heckled as they formed a line between the civilians and the quantrons.  As the other rangers helped up a few fallen people and pointed to them the way to safety, Andros continued, "How many times do we have to defeat you before you get the idea that YOU WON'T WIN!" He put his hands up to his helmet in a shouting gesture at that last part. 

"Think again red ranger.  You will soon fall as you should have a long time ago."

"Ecliptor! You again? We should have known! The quantrons are too ignorant to actually go out and do something on their own w/o the princess of evil or one of her lackeys holding their hands," TJ joined in after they cleared the park of innocent people.

Ecliptor growled and hollered, "Quantrons attack!" 

Five minutes into the battle, the rangers noticed that the quantrons appeared to be endless.  For each one they defeated, it seemed 2 more popped up in it's place.  Ashley was thrown onto the cement sidewalk surrounding a fountain and the other rangers rallied around her.  "You guys, this isn't quite going as smoothly as we figured it would," the yellow ranger said, as she shakily clambered to her feet.

"Where are they all com-" Andros' question was cut off when a green energy beam shot out of the ground he was standing on and wrapped itself around his upper torso, pinning his arms to his sides. While one end of the beam was wrapped around him, the other end was still stuck in the ground so that it lifted him up into the air about 2 feet and held firmly him in place. "What the-?"  Andros looked over his comrades and saw that they too were unable to move. All except… "Cassie?"

"Hang on, guys! I'll get you out! SATELLITE STUTTER!", Cassie yelled, as she pulled out her weapon and prepared to fire.  Just as she was about to fire on the energy beam, the mass of quantrons came up behind her and pinned the struggling pink ranger to the ground.  "No! Get off me!"  She was able to land a few good kicks but it was no use, there were just too many of them for her to even have a chance.  Cassie continued to struggle until she noticed that everything became eerily quiet.  There was no clang of the quantrons metal armor.  They froze in place, even though they didn't give up their hold on her.  Even the rangers' grunts as they fought against the restraints dimmed.  

Out if the silence, the pink ranger heard the most menacing, evil laughter she ever laid ears on.  Fear gripping her now, she fought again, and, catching her captors by surprise, was able to escape.  Afraid for her friends' lives, she tried to run to them to protect them from whatever was about to happen. 

"No! Cassie, you have to run. NOW! RUN! Fly back to the ship! GO!," Andros yelled at her. 

"Don't be ridiculus! I'm not gonna leave you all here."

"Cassie, you don't understand, we're not the ones in danger. You are! You must leave now. PLEASE! RUN THE OTHER WAY! Contact Zhane. He'll-  NO! CASSIE!"  But there was nothing Andros could do but watch as Ecliptor pounced on Cassie before she could reach them, bringing her down to ground in a tumble.  Cassie regained her footing and stood up to face Ecliptor.  She pulled out her Astro-Blaster and Satellite Stutter.  After attaching one to the other in what should have been a deadly combination, she fired.  However, the blast had no impact whatsoever on the determined crystalline monster.  She looked down and saw, Andros' Spiral Saber lying on the ground, where he had dropped it when the beam surprised him from behind.  She picked it up and charged at Ecliptor, who in turn lifted his twisted sword and charged at her.

"Oh, no! I can't watch this!," Ashley cried from her restraints.

Instead of aiming to hit her, though, Ecliptor surprised Cassie by twisting in one direction to her side and clasping her arms firmly so she couldn't move.  He held her in front of him, facing away into the forest.  Even w/ the Spiral Saber, she wasn't able to pry him off her.  Then, she heard it again.  The evil maniacal laughter was coming from the trees.  She could hear Andros in the background yelling, but she didn't focus on what he was saying.  Her eyes were riveted on the forest.  Out of the dark wood, what looked like a leather-clad decaying spider, charged at the pink ranger, sword in hand.  Ecliptor held her in place so she couldn't escape the powerful blows.  After just three hits from his sword, he had Cassie demorphed and crumbled on the hard ground at Ecliptor's feet.  She clambered back on her hands and knees as far she could go, until she bumped into the wall of the fountain.  The monster and Ecliptor sent simultaneous blasts of energy, which exploded the fountain behind Cassie's back.

The remaining rangers watched in horror as the unknown monster sent blow after blow at Cassie.  "I tire of this game, puny pink power punk.  Now you die. Say hello to your predecessor for me," the monster croaked, as he raised his sword in a fighting stance.  He made for one last charge at the fallen pink ranger, who was lying unconscious against the statue that sat in the middle of what used to be the fountain.  He was a foot away from her as the blue ranger's Astro-Axe sliced into his arm, causing him to stumble a bit.  TJ knelt in front of Cassie and picked her up, cradling her to his chest.  

"TJ, get out of here! Take Cassie as far away as you possibly can.  He's set on killing her!  You must protect her! Go!," Andros yelled to the blue ranger.

TJ nodded and called for his galaxy glider.  No sooner had they left the park that TJ heard the whine of quantron fliers right on his tail.  Holding Cassie even closer to him, he leaned forward further, pushing the glider as fast as it could.  TJ ducked down under fallen trees, went around as many obstacles as he possibly could but he couldn't shake them.  He came upon the beach and got an idea.  "Hang on, Cassie girl, I'm gonna get you someplace safe.  Just hang on," he whispered to Cassie, as he took the glider as low as it could go, and narrowly made it into a cave that was almost completely submerged underwater, but for 3 feet.  "Ha ha! They'll never make it in here."  

Sure enough, the quantrons were forced to return to Ecliptor and report their failure to capture the pink ranger.

A/N:  I have almost all of this planned out so there will definitely be more.  Of course, the more reviews I get I faster I might be at getting it typed up. * cough cough hint hint *


	2. Who's Next?

Disclaimer: I don't own them, but if I did there'd be more dvds and most definitely more special features.

Quick chapter summary- Andros and Zhane explain the situation

A/N:  Just recently I read some quotes from PRiS eps and I found one where one of the girls try to shake hands w/ Zhane and when he's reluctant he explains by saying that he's never met a female ranger before. Well, just forget that ever happened. Lol.  Zhane has met female rangers before, they were the pink and yellow rangers from my little make-believe "original" space ranger team. Okie? * winks *

* * *

Chapter 2 – Who's Next?

ON BOARD THE ASTROMEGASHIP – IN THE INFIRMARY 

"ANDROS! Andros! Can you hear me? Andros? Come on, man, open you eyes… please…"

            Andros could hear Zhane begging for him to wake up but he really didn't want to.  As soon as he started to get any coherent thoughts together, all he felt was pain.  He didn't want to feel pain.  To wanted to go back to being unconscious until he healed enough to not have any pain or at least not as much.  He must've given some sort of response, whether it was a slight movement of the hand or something else, he didn't recall, but he heard Zhane tell Alpha that he must be rousing.  Then he heard something he didn't expect… he heard beeps.  Not just the lone beep he should have heard from his monitor, but 2 other same-sounding beeps.

            "Alpha, how is Ashley's heart-rate? Has it slowed at all?"

            "Yes, it isn't nearly as erratic as it was before."

            Ashley… Carlos… CASSIE… TJ… It started to come back to him… Forgetting all about his pain, Andros shot bolt upright in bed, ready to take on Ecliptor and… "Where is he? Where is Wasvat?"

            "Whoa, whoa, slow down there.  Sit back.  You need to calm down.  Just relax," Zhane said trying to quiet his best friend; then he did a double take.  "Did you say Wasvat?"

            "Yes, Zhane.  He's back."

            After about an hour, Ashley and Carlos had finally woken up, much to Andros and Zhane's relief.  It wasn't until all 3 rangers seemed to be nearly fully recuperated that anyone tried to explain anything.  Andros told Zhane everything that had happened  up until the energy beams that held them delivered a shock strong enough to knock them out cold.  "Well, I guess that's how we were knocked out.  No one fired anything at us.  In fact they pretty much ignored us.  They were only concerned w/ Cassie."  

            "Andros, as soon as we heard that laughter and Cassie ran to us, it seemed you knew what they were planning; or at least, what the intended end result was," Carlos said hesitantly. _'Cassie's death,'_  but he couldn't say it out loud.  "Have you dealt w/ this monster before?," he asked.  Andros winced… he really didn't want to answer that question.  It was too painful. 

            Zhane saw the pain on his friend's face and so he answered the question before Andros was forced to retell the tragedy.  "Yes, Carlos we have dealt w/ him before." He took a deep breath before proceeding.  "I know that you've all thought it was odd that Andros and I were the only space rangers when you came aboard, well, you didn't know about me yet, but that's odder still, just one ranger.  After all, there were four other morphers, why wasn't anyone using them?  In truth, you all are not the first to use the black, yellow, pink and blue morphers.  Their previous owners are dead.  I'm sorry, no, not all.  Yellow is alive, although she's in a mental institution."

            "No."

            "What? Andros, what do mean "no"?"

            "She's dead.  She commit suicide." Andros looked at Zhane w/ an expressionless face. "The girl hadn't responded to any stimulus for a year, couldn't bathe, clothe, or feed herself.  Then one day, she gets up from her chair, walking on her own for the first time in a year, walks over to the window, opens it, and jumps out from 5 stories up." He paused, lost in thought.  "I couldn't visit her much during the attacks or shortly after you were injured.  Then they took her off planet during the evacuation, and I lost track of her.  When we met w/ the rebels, I investigated her whereabouts.  I was able to locate her file."  Andros tried to suppress a shudder.  "There were many pictures."  He avoided everyone's eyes because he could tell from the slight sniffles coming from Ashley's direction that she was trying her best not to cry.  He didn't dare look at Zhane.  He figured Zhane must be very angry w/ him for not telling him about the girl.  He was surprised when he felt Zhane's hand on his shoulder and then give a short squeeze.  At that, Andros himself almost lost all of his well-kept composure.  He looked to see tears streaming down everyone's faces.  He too reached and brushed away salty tear that had managed to escape.

            "And this Wasvat did this?  Killed 3 rangers and drove another insane?," Ashley said, finally trusting herself to speak.

            "Yes," Zhane responded, still w/ his hand on his friend's shoulder.  "Wasvat isn't an ordinary monster.  He's smart; too smart, really.  And he's the most sadistic bastard I've ever come across."

            "And he works for Astronema?"

            "He works for no one, unless there's something in it for him.  And that something has to be big, very big, for him to be interested.  He's a mercenary w/ very high prices.  To be honest, he's such a scoundrel, I think Dark Spectre doesn't even trust him," Zhane paused, deep in thought.  "Wasvat was the only monster to ever come so close to defeating the power rangers.  Astronema must be getting VERY desperate."

            "But I don't understand, he had four of us restrained, why didn't he destroy us? Why was he so intent on killing Cassie?", Carlos asked.

            "Wasvat's weakness is his… process of doing things.  He's extremely, how do I describe this, symbolic I suppose?  Superstitious is more the right word for it.  Our powers were not created all at the same time, they were made as they were needed.  And for some reason, he's determined to destroy our powers in the order that they were created, or rather, in the opposite order.  The pink ranger's powers were the last created.  Therefore, they would be the first to be destroyed. This is, in a way a good thing and a bad thing."

            "Good thing?  How can this be a good thing?"

            Andros spoke up this time.  "He won't go after the next in line until Cassie is dead.  The rest of us are safe at the moment. Also, TJ has her.  TJ is extremely protective of her.  If there's anyone on this entire planet Cassie is the safest w/, it's him."

            "Speaking of, how did he escape to get to her?  I struggled w/ all my might and couldn't budge the thing," Carlos asked. 

            "I have no idea, Alpha can you bring up a recording of the fight?", Andros asked.  He was doing his best not to let the current situation affect him so much, but it was hard.  Astronema was very good at hitting close to home with her attacks.

            "I'm afraid there is none.  The screen went black when you all were trapped by the beams, I'm guessing, by something Astronema did.  Communications were also down and I wasn't able to contact Zhane until after the fight and whatever Astronema had did was lifted," the little robot said, as he nervously stepped in place, going from one foot to the other rapidly.  It was a habit the rangers had thought he had broken.  Imagine, a robot having a nervous habit!  This particular habit seemed to be built into the Alpha robot line, since it's shared between both the Alpha 5 and their own Alpha 6.

            "That's why by the time I got to you, you all were unconscious and there was nothing I could do to help anyone," Zhane said, bowing his head.

            "So there's nothing?" Andros asked.

            Alpha seemed to instantly brighten and said, "There's a chance that D.E.C.A. was able to track your energy signatures.  If so, then perhaps we can learn Cassie and TJ's location."  

            Zhane rushed over to the nearest panel and began to enter commands into the computer.  Sure enough…

            "The energy signatures of the pink and blue rangers were last located inside the caves of Angel Grove beach," D.E.C.A spoke up.  

            Ashley gasped.  "The caves! But they'll blow them up and kill Cassie and TJ just like that," she snapped her fingers. 

            "No," Andros shook his head, "they won't risk killing TJ.  He isn't the next one in order."

            "Then, who is?" When he didn't answer right away, she pushed, "Andros, who's next?"

            "It's black, isn't it?," Carlos said, after piecing together the order in his head.  "Pink, Black, and Blue were destroyed.  Yellow wasn't killed was she was obviously attacked.  Red and Silver weren't attacked yet.  So that's the order, isn't it?  Pink, Black, Blue, Yellow, and then Red and Silver or Silver and Red."

            "Yes, Carlos.  You're the next one they'll be after.  Which is why you're not leaving this ship until Wasvat is destroyed," Andros said.

A/N:  I suck at making up monster names, so if anyone has a better one than "Wasvat"    *   let me know.  I'll give you credit, too.  I won't be all like, "look at my wonderful monster name, aren't I so creative".  LoL.


	3. Cassie's Condition

Disclaimer: I don't own them, but if I did there'd be more dvds and most definitely more special features.

Quick Chapter Summary- TJ assesses the extent of Cassie's injuries

* * *

Chapter 3- Cassie's Condition

ON EARTH – IN THE CAVES AT ANGEL GROVE PARK 

TJ ducked under the low rock overhang leading into the caves at Angel Grove beach and he only slowed down after about 5 minutes off zooming through, over, and into as many obstacles as he could to ensure no one could possibly follow them.  He landed his galaxy glider near a small pool of water and gingerly laid his fallen comrade on the ground at his feet.  Wary of any tracking devices Astronema may use to capture her prey, TJ leaned over Cassie and deactivated her morpher and communicator and then his.  He really didn't want to because then Andros and the others wouldn't be able to find them either, but at the moment he was more concerned with staying hidden from his enemies than being found by his friends.  

            TJ sat down next to Cassie, who was still unconscious, and began assessing the extent of her injuries.  First off, he checked her pulse.  He didn't think to check while they were still at the park, but now that he finally took a good look at her, he realized she looked so pale and unresponsive, she may very well be dead.  He gently pressed his fingers to her neck and let out a deep breath he hadn't realized he was holding when he felt the faint beating against the pads of his fingers.  Next, he examined the deep gash on her forehead, most likely made by a piece of flying debris.  He took off his blue flannel shirt that he was wearing over a blue tank top (since his morpher was deactivated, he was back in civilian clothes rather than the standard power ranger uniform he was wearing before the fight began), ripped off a strip to dip in the cool water and placed the rest of the shirt underneath Cassie's head.  He used the wet strip and gently dabbed at the deep gash and washed most the blood away so he could get a better look at it.  

After cleansing the precious blood off of Cassie's face, TJ looked over her arms, legs, abdomen, and back.  He found several other deep cuts and numerous bruises that were already forming on her poor battered body.  Out of all of her injuries, though, he was most concerned about the deep gash on her head, which could lead to a concussion, and a very nasty bruise on her lower back.  He took a mental note not to move her head or neck before she was awake and able to tell him how she felt.  

TJ dipped the already blood-soaked strip of his flannel shirt into the cool water again and drizzled the water over her face.  "Come on, Cassie-girl, wake up.  Rise and shine. Come on," he said over and over again.  He had to rouse her.  If she did indeed have a concussion, the longer she stayed unconscious the greater the chances were that she wouldn't wake up at all.  "Please," he pleaded.  For what felt like an eternity, but was only in fact about 15 minutes, he continued talking to her and dripping water on her face before she responded.  

"Wha- what happened?  Where am I?," Cassie asked groggily.  She tried to sit up but grimaced and collapsed onto the ground again.  She looked around at her surroundings and her eyes finally fell on her friend.  "TJ?  Where are we?"

"You were attacked by a monster and knocked unconscious.  I managed to get you out of there and at the moment we're hiding in the caves at the beach.  It was the only place I could think of that the quantrons wouldn't be able to get into with their fliers." He shook his head.  "They must want you pretty bad, they chased us all the way here from the park."  TJ glanced warily Cassie.  "How do you feel? I'm a bit concerned about your back.  I didn't want to move you until woke up."

Cassie picked her arms up in the air and waved them, then she turned her head from one side to the other.  Next, she lifted her legs and then she did a little wiggle on her back, all the while grimacing in pain.  "Well, it hurts like heck, but I think it's safe to say I'm not paralyzed."  She could see the relief on his face.  "Did I scare you pretty bad?"

"That, my dear, is an understatement," he said, smiling at her.  His smile slowly faded, though, as he, too, took a closer look of their surroundings.  "I don't like this."

"What?"

"They may try to blow up the caves.  I didn't realize how deep we were going.  If they do, we'll get buried."

"How long have we been down here?"

"About a half an hour."  Then he caught on to Cassie's train of thought. "What's keeping them, though?  It's odd that they haven't blown us up yet."

Cassie tried again to sit up but this time TJ made her lay down, not the pain.

"Stay down, I need to dress your wounds," he said.  TJ walked over to his galaxy glider, opened a compartment underneath the standing pad, and pulled out a first aid kit.  He opened the kit and was a bit upset to find very meager supplies. 

"What about your injuries?"  Cassie pointed at TJ's arms, which were now visible since he took off his flannel shirt to put under her head.  She managed to sit up, despite TJ's protests, and examine his arms more closely.  "My god, TJ, what happened to you?"  From the crease inside his elbow all the way up to his shoulders he had what could best be described as a really REALLY bad road rash, the kind you get when you crash your bike and slide on the gravel a couple 2, 3, 10 feet.  They were bleeding and looked incredibly painful.

"I managed to squeeze out of the energy bonds holding me during the fight to get to you.  Don't ask me how, though.  It doesn't hurt very badly.  Come on, lie down."  He put on a brave front and tried to get Cassie to lie down again, but she wasn't going to budge.  He winced when she lightly touched his arm.

"Don't say it doesn't hurt, because I can tell it does," she said.  She reached for the first aid kit but TJ pulled it out of her reach.

"I'll make a deal with you.  Let me take care of the gash on your head and any other little cuts and scratches you have, and when I'm done, you can play doctor," he said, still holding the kit out of her reach when she repeatedly tried to get to it.  

Cassie stopped reaching for the kit and gave TJ a hard look.  "You promise?," she asked.  He nodded and made the cross my heart gesture.  "Fine, you get to play nurse, and then I get to play doctor." 

He shook his head at her last comment, and looked at her, pleased to see most traces of grogginess gone from her eyes, replaced by playfulness.  "Now, LIE DOWN," he said forcefully.  His actions belittled his words, though, as he eased her down with as much gentleness as if he were handling a porcelain doll.  He showed the same tender care as he dressed her wounds.  She was wearing jeans and a pink tank top, so it was easy to bandage her arms and abdomen, however he had to concede that he wouldn't be able bandage any part of her legs above the knees.  

He finally finished and Cassie nearly ripped the kit out of his hands.  She didn't make him lie down while she cleaned and bandaged his arms since it would make it difficult, however she did make him lie down long enough to check the rest of his body for injuries.  Satisfied he was in one piece, she let him kneel on his knees while she dressed his wounds.  "I can't believe you were able to break free of the energy beam," she said while she cleaned wound with hydrogen peroxide and then sprayed it with a pain relieving anti-bacterial spray.

"I wasn't about to let you get destroyed by that monster.  You mean too much to me…" he trailed off, surprised he had just confessed that to her.

Cassie paused as she finished tying a knot it the gauze that she had wrapped around his upper arm.  She slowly worked herself around so she was in front of him.  They were both kneeling on the hard ground, and even kneeling, he was a good 4 or 5 inches taller than her.  She looked into his eyes and saw the genuine love in their depths.  Cassie tilted her head up and lightly kissed him on his lips.  When she pulled away, he leaned towards her and continued the kiss.  When he pulled away and looked at her, her eyes were closed and her lips and cheeks looked more rosy than usual.  A stray lock of hair had fallen in her face so he reached up and tucked it behind her ear.  She opened her eyes and smiled at him.  Then she seemed to regain her mind and moved to his other side to clean and bandage his other arm.  The rest of the time she worked, they were both silent, their minds reeling over what had just happened.

When she finished, TJ lead her over next to the water to sit down and he cleaned up the kit and put it away.  He noticed that also tucked underneath the standing pad of the glider was a blanket, a jug of water, and food packages, those kind that the astronauts use, the "instant steak, just add water" kind of food.  He pulled out the blanket, water, and "food", and started towards Cassie.  She wasn't by the water anymore, though.  "Cassie? Cassie! Where are you?," he yelled, his panic rising.  Where did she go?  She didn't pass out and fall in the water, did she?

"Over here, by the wall," she said.  

Breathing a sigh a relief, he walked over to Casse, who was leaning by the wall at one edge of the water.  He covered her with the blanket before settling down next to her.  She grabbed a corner of the blanket and pulled it away from her and over him.  Then she curled up against his side, with the blanket draped over both of them.  He circled his bandaged arm around her and kissed the top of her head.  Cassie was just drifting off to sleep when she felt an odd vibrating against her side.  "What the-?  My cell phone!," TJ said.  

"Wow, it actually works in here?  I would think the rock would block the signal.  Who is it?"

TJ shifted away from Cassie slightly so he could get to the little vibrating machine in his pocket.  He looked at the LCD screen and said, "It's a text message- from Carlos!"


	4. Contact

Chapter 4- Contact

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ON BOARD THE ASTROMEGASHIP 

            After discussing and going over everything they know about Wasvat, the yellow, black, and red rangers went off to their quarters to clean up and get changed.  The uniforms they were presently wearing were soiled and torn, and most likely unsalvageable.  The silver ranger went to the bridge to get as much information possible from D.E.C.A's surveillance of the battle.

            Before heading off to his own quarters to change his clothes, Andros followed Carlos with the intention of questioning him.  Andros had noticed that he had seemed more upset than usual by the days events.  When he reached the door to Carlos' quarters, he was surprised to find the door wide open.  Instead of changing into a fresh uniform, the black ranger was sitting stock still on his bed, staring into space.  Andros stood in the doorway and gave a slight cough to bring Carlos out of his reverie.  Carlos sighed and ran a hand through his hair.  He shook his head, as if to shake off the last traces of his daze and then looked up at Andros, finally realizing he was waiting for a response.

            "Oh, hi.  Uh, how long have you been standing there?", Carlos asked.

            "Long enough to see that you're not yourself.  Are you alright?"  Andros hesitated walking in he didn't want to intrude.  However, he felt that Carlos needed to talk.

            Carlos sighed again and stood up, stretching.  He started to say something, then stopped and took a long look at Andros.  The scrutiny unnerved Andros and he was happy when the black ranger turned his head and made way towards the window looking out to the cosmos.  "I'm beginning to think that we're a bunch of failures – not meant, not WORTHY, to be rangers."  He gave a hollow, cynical laugh.  "We lost our command center, we lost Zordon," he said, ticking his list off on his fingers, "we lost Cassie…" he trailed off.  "This is REALLY bad, Andros.  This guy has succeeded before in killing rangers, this isn't an amateur we're dealing with." He paused.  "Tommy and Cat and Adam and the others would have NEVER let this happen.  If they were still here, if we hadn't taken their powers, maybe everything would have been different."

            Andros had heard these names mentioned before, among others, by his comrades.  They seemed be held in a kind of reverence by them, nearing god and goddess stature. And there was nothing that bothered him as much as someone being placed on so high a pedestal, because 99 out 100 times, that person was only elevated because no one knew the entire story of that, so called, "God".  He stormed over to Carlos so fast, he caught him by surprise and Carlos almost fell off of the chair he was sitting on.  "Now, you listen to me.  I have seen you all fight and I have never been more proud to fight beside anyone else.  What happened would have happened no matter who was there!," he backed off slightly.  "And, come on," he said, in an amused voice, "look at who they were fighting.  Rita, Zedd, Mondo, Divatox… they're pathetic!!!  We could squash them one hundred times over right now!"  This got a chuckle out of Carlos.  "Put this Tommy or Cat or Adam that you all speak of so fondly against Astronema and they'd come crawling back in bandages.  They had it easy.  And they had Zordon."  Andros bowed his head when he mentioned their mentor.  He walked over to Carlos and placed his hand on his shoulder.  "You didn't lose him.  Zordon wasn't even on Earth when your command center was attacked.  If he was, maybe then things would've turned out different.  Or, maybe they wouldn't have.  Carlos, you can't dwell on these things, they'll tear you apart." 

            Carlos was a bit shocked by Andros' outburst, to say the least.  After all, it was well known that no one on board the ship seemed to carry more of guilty conscience than the red ranger.  He stood up to thank his friend and as he did, he knocked his book bag over, which was leaning against the corner of the bed.  A few of the contents spilled out, and Carlos nearly whooped with joy when he looked down and saw the answer to one of their most pressing problems.  He bent over and scooped up the silver metallic cell phone.  When he straightened himself, Andros thought his face must surely be hurting from the huge smile spreading over Carlos' face.

            "I didn't realize my little speech would have such a profound effect on you," Andros said, raising an eyebrow.

            "Do you know what this is?"

            "Ya know, Carlos, I may still be bit shady on a few of Earth's customs, but I learned what a cell phone was quite a while ago…"

            "Andros, this is how we can contact TJ and Cassie!  We can let them know what's going on!"

            Andros shook his head and said, "we can't. If there are quantrons patrolling the caves, they'll hear the ring tone-…"

            "Not if we send text messages back and forth!  His text message is set to silent because he sends them during class all the time! Granted it may take longer- Wait! I can text him and tell him to turn off his ringer!"

            Andros still looked hesitant.  "What if he doesn't have his cell phone on him?"

            "Then we're back to square one, but I can almost guarantee you, he will."

            Despite his better judgment, Andros couldn't help catching on to Carlos' enthusiasm.  "Okay," he said, "I'll go get Ashley and Zhane.  Meet us on the bridge in 5 minutes."

            Andros turned and started towards the door, when Carlos stopped him.  "Andros, I want to thank you for saying what you did.  I guess I just kinda got into a funk there.  Um, I know that at the moment I'm the somewhat unstable one here, but perhaps you could listen to a bit of advice I have for you?"

            "Sure, what?"

            "You should listen to what you say sometimes. Ya know, follow your own advice."

            Andros just gave Carlos a slight smile and walked away.  He could handle helping others with their own problems, but when it came to his own, he blocked out any reasonable advice he may have for himself.  To be honest, considering his mental state sometimes, he really wasn't sure he should play shrink for anyone else.  Despite that, he decided to follow Carlos' advice and filed away his own little motivational speech in his head to ponder over during one of his ever-frequent sleepless nights.  Of course, he would only try to solve his own problems when he was certain everyone was back where they should be, safe and secure onboard the Astromegaship. 

ON BOARD THE ASTROMEGASHIP – THE BRIDGE 

            The others were already gathered on the bridge when Carlos walked in.  Andros had filled them in, and the entire group was apprehensive over whether this would work, or if they would be alerting the masses of quantrons that  were about to storm the caves as to TJ and Cassie's location and end up condemning their friends to death. 

A/N: the next chapter will pick up AFTER the conversation between TJ and Carlos.  I think a chapter devoted to a conversation would be boring, so I'll skip it.  So next chapter, when I say, "the conversation went good, it was delightful" don't go "wha?"  ALSO, some of you are all like, "what about Ashley/Andros relationship?".  All I have to say is… be patient. * wink wink * I'm writing these chapters so they're one chap in one group's POV and another chap in another group's POV and going back and forth. I'm getting there… * evil grin * You must remember, Andros is damaged. LoL. Next chapter will be about Cassie and TJ.  THEN, I'll get to Ashley and Andros… * thinks * yes, I think that's the way the chapters will fall. If not I'll just torture you all an extra chapter.  Bwahahahahaha! 


	5. On the Run

In Order pt. 5

Chapter 5 – On The Run

IN THE CAVES AT ANGEL GROVE BEACH 

Wasvat- that was the bastard's name.  Carlos had text messaged TJ's cell phone and told him to turn off his ringer so that he could call him without alerting the hundreds of quantrons that were surrounding the caves.  With the phone set to vibrate, Carlos was able to dial TJ and tell him all about their current situation.  Evidently, this monster was determined to kill them all; however, he had to do it in a special order and Cassie was first on the list.  TJ hugged the pink ranger closer to him and simply indulged in the feel of her warm body.  She was alive and he'd be damned if he was going to let that change.  As he held her, he went over everything in his mind.  The only thing that kept them from blowing up the caves was the fact that they didn't want to kill him- YET.  Until Carlos called them back, hopefully with a plan, they were to stay in the caves.  As dangerous their situation was, Cassie was safest hiding with him. 

TJ stuffed the cell phone into his jeans pocket and checked again to make sure Cassie was awake.  Without an x-ray or a CAT scan, there was no way to check for a concussion and the prospect of her falling asleep and never waking up didn't thrill him. 

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he said, lightly shifting to get a better look at her.  _So beautiful…_ he thought. 

"The pain isn't too bad.  Nothing I can't handle.  I'm really tired though," she replied quietly.  She wrapped her arms tighter around his midsection and leaned closer into his chest, breathing deeply.  After a few moments of silence, she spoke again, so softly he had to struggle to hear her, even when he was so close.  "I'm going to die, aren't I?"  

"I won't let that happen."

"I could hear Carlos talking on the other end," she continued, as if TJ hadn't spoken any reassurances.  "I heard what he said about the first Astro Rangers.  This guy drove the yellow ranger insane," she paused in thought.  "I wonder, how?"

TJ momentarily cursed Carlos for going into such explicit detail but then calmed himself down when he told himself that Carlos didn't know Cassie could hear his end of the conversation.  "Cassie, listen to me."  He took Cassie's head in his hands and forced her to look him in the eye.  "Right now, we're safe.  I really don't intend to let them kill you OR drive you insane.  You have to trust me.  You have to know that I would give my life to protect you."

Tears welled up in Cassie's eyes and she shook her head.  "Don't say that.  I don't want to ever hear you say that -…"

"Why?"

"Because!"

"Because, why?"

"Just… because!  I'm a power ranger, TJ; I can fight my own battles.  I signed up for this knowing full well I could be destroyed," Cassie said, as she pushed away from him and tried to stand up.  TJ tried to stop her from standing, afraid that she might fall over, or, worse, pass out.  But Cassie showed her true fighting colors and resisted his attempts to calm her.  When the world around her started to spin, she leaned against the rock wall for support.  TJ stood next to her but didn't move to restrain her again.  When the dizziness finally faded, she slowly walked over to the ledge of the water and kneeled down in front of it.  Looking at her own reflection, she could barely recognize herself.  Her face was covered in grime and a huge gash, which must've started to bleed when she struggled with TJ, was present on her forehead.  A small trickle of blood now ran slowly down the side of her face, and she realized she must've really been a sorry sight for TJ.  _God, I look pathetic…_she thought.  She dipped her hands into the cool water and noticed that they looked just as bad as her face.  After lightly washing the grime and blood off of them, she cupped her hands and lightly splashed some of the refreshing liquid on her face.  All the while, TJ silently watched her from the wall, ever vigilant of any sign that she may collapse.  It occurred to him that she had only just realized how badly Wasvat had beaten her.  

TJ slowly walked over to her and kneeled down on one knee, while the other jutted out at an angle.  He reached over and picked up his torn flannel shirt that he had used as a pillow for her head off of the ground from where he had left it.  He used a slight pressure, pulling Cassie closer and turning her to face him.  She felt a bit woozy so she held on to his outstretched knee with one hand and his side with the other.  He ripped off yet another piece of fabric, much bigger than the last strip, and used it to lightly pat her face dry, wiping off the remaining dirt and blood.  To steady her, TJ wrapped one arm around her midsection while he worked on washing and drying her face and then re-bandaging it, since it had started to bleed again and needed new dressing.  As he was finishing up, he heard the unmistakable sound of clanking metal – quantrons.  Judging from how rigid her body had gone, it was obvious that Cassie heard it too.  

"Stay right here, don't move," he whispered.  

"No, no, TJ, don't! Please, don't go after them! PLEASE…" Cassie quietly begged while trying to hold him in one spot.

"Cassie, honey, I may like playing the white knight in shining armor, but I'm not stupid.  Now isn't the time to fight.  Now is the time to hide.  Now stay here while I gather everything up.  It would be very bad if they found all of our supplies," he said, as he pulled away from her and quickly made his way over to the wall, where he gathered up the blanket, water jug, medical kit and food.  He piled everything on top of the glider and pushed it down into a crevice that was dug underneath what TJ guessed was probably the quantrons walkway.  After inspecting the crevice, he figured that it would be deep enough for a human to walk along.  Quickly dashing over to Cassie, who, thank god, was still where he had asked her to stay, he grabbed her hand and led her over their new hiding spot.  TJ helped her down into the crevice and then followed behind her, just in time.  He only had enough time to look up when he spotted at least a dozen quantrons leap down from the pathway overhead and into the clearing that they had been a few seconds before hand.  

Rather than wait for Astronema's metallic minions to inspect the room further, TJ wrapped the blanket around Cassie's shoulders, stuffed food packets into both of their pockets, and then, grabbing the handles of the water jug and med-kit in one hand, and taking Cassie's tiny hand in his other, he slowly led her further into the caves and away from the quantrons.  The galaxy glider would have to stay where he had left it, which didn't help them any.  That meant that they would have to leave the trail after a little while to avoid quantrons following them, should any find it.

They walked for almost an hour and a half, keeping an eye and ear open for any sign of quantrons and monsters.  Feeling it was safe, TJ climbed out of the crevice, which at this point had become extremely narrow to the point where they both had to walk sideways.  After inspecting the area, he reached down and helped Cassie out.  

The sight was so stunning; Cassie couldn't help but stare and occasionally gasp.  There was another pool of water, however this one was much bigger and there were more shallow parts, whereas the last one must've gone straight down.  She could see a few brightly colored fish swimming around in it's depths, along with some other marine life.  Leading down into the pool was a very small waterfall.  It wasn't big at all, more like the kind that you can just sit under and let the water pour down your back.  Cassie followed along the wall, running her hand along the crystals and the fool's gold embedded in the rock.  They sparkled under the moonlight that streamed in from a few random holes in the cave ceiling.

"Huh.  Would you look at that?", TJ said.

"What?"

"Moonlight.  We've been going up, following the crevice…  This place is very disorienting.  All this time, I thought we were going down, and we've been going up."

Cassie just smiled and sat down next to the pool, looking down at the fish and the plant life.  TJ walked around for a few more minutes before coming and settling himself down next to his comrade.  They sat in silence, just simply sitting and watching the fish swim by.  Cassie finally broke it when she said, "I'm sorry about what I said back at the clearing.  I appreciate your help, truly, I do.  It's just that-," she paused, turning something over in her mind, and then grew frustrated. "- I'm a power ranger!  I shouldn't have to rely on others to fight for me.  I feel… weak! And I'm not used to feeling like that."  She sighed and calmed herself down.  "I meant what I said."

At this, TJ turned and looked quizzically at her.  "What?"

"About not wanting to ever hear you say that you'd die for me.  I meant it."

"But I would-…"

"No…"

"Yes, Cassie!  Why does that bother you?  I understand that your one tough chicklet, but I also happen to know that you're a romantic."

"Yes, I suppose I am and a man pledging his life to a woman is very romantic, however in this instance it's very real.  Don't pretend that there isn't a serious chance I won't survive this-…"

"Will you stop acting so pessimistic?  That isn't like you!  If you believe that, then yes, you're as good as dead.  You have to believe that you will make it through this!," TJ said, careful not to raise his voice too loud for fear that the caves would amplify and carry it.

"I don't want you to die for me," Cassie muttered quietly. 

"I'm just curious to know why simply saying it makes you so upset?"

Cassie replied to his question, however she practically breathed it and it was impossible for him to hear.

"Cassie, honey, I can't hear you.  Please, just tell me," TJ begged.

She breathed in deeply, steeling herself for the argument she could feel coming.  She squared her shoulders and looking him square in the eye, she said, "I'm not worth it." 

TJ felt that he was the one this time that was about to fall over.  He didn't know what he had been expecting, but that certainly hadn't been it.  And he could tell from the look on her face that she certainly did mean it.  This girl had a serious problem seeing herself the way he saw her.  "Wait.  Wait, wait, wait… are you saying that your life isn't worth saving?"

"I'm saying I'm not worth you or anyone else on the ship giving up their own life for," she replied, stoically.  

            TJ simply sat looking at her in shock.  She was serious.  "Why would you think that?" he asked.  "What can I say to convince you otherwise?  I don't understand what gave you this idea.  What do think we're better than you?"  TJ was pleading for answers at this point. 

            Refusing to argue with TJ anymore, Cassie moved to lie down next to the pool and let the moonlight reflecting off the water relax her.  She was happy when she felt his arms come around her and hold her close, making sure she didn't fall in.  If only they could lie like this forever.  But no… TJ had to ask questions.

            "Cassie, before this is all over, I will have my answers," he whispered into her ear.  "And, don't fall asleep."  He felt her tense up in his arms.  _Damn, I don't want to argue with her…_he thought.  

            She turned herself around his arms and faced him.  At first, he was afraid she was going to go off again.  Imagine his surprise when she starting playing with his lower lip, then kissed him passionately.  He began to fear for his life when she broke of the kiss and smiled wickedly.  "Swim with me," she said, and then she pulled out of his embrace and jumped into the water. 

A/N: this was a long chapter.  The next chapter will be Andros/Ashley, I promise.


	6. Love and War

In Order pt. 6

A/N: I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone who has reviewed…

 bsktballchik,

 Mana,

 amethyst8,

 swimmboardergurl, and

 sarah

I appreciate the feedback A LOT   ^U^    Also, thanks a lot for pointing out some deficiencies in the story and what ever I could, I fixed. (sorry bstballchik, I couldn't get around the whole cell phone and space thing, I tried though! Lol)  swimmboardergurl: the Carlos part is confusing, I know, but I came up with an idea that I think will work good in the story and it'll kinda explain everything.  I just hope your not a big Carlos fan  * cringes *   ALSO thanks a bunch for pointing out the text messaging, Cassie hearing the conversation thing… it's fixed.  See, I cleaned up about every chapter and then reposted them before I posted chapter 5.  The text-messaging was explained in the old chapter 4, but when I did some cleaning that part got cut and I didn't realize it when I posted chapter 5.  The correction was put into chapter 5, so you can see. Thanks for noticing! And, for Mana, I added more fighting (tried to anyway, fighting sequences aren't my strong suit ^_^). 

Okay, now on with the story and the most anticipated Ashley/Andros chapter!   

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Chapter 5: Love and War

ON BOARD THE ASTROMEGASHIP 

            Ashley Hammond walked along the corridors of the Astromegaship, trailing her hand along the wall behind her.  Normally she would find a quiet period on the ship to be relaxing.  To listen to the soft hum of the engine and watch the stars twinkling through the viewing windows could put her to sleep in a heartbeat.  But today, the ship's quietness was eerie and made her feel uneasy.  

She paused for a moment as a wave of nausea rippled through her stomach and the pain ran it's course from the center of her abdomen to the tips of her fingers and toes.  It wasn't as bad as the last time this happened, or the time before that.  At least the aftershocks seemed to be dying down.  Zhane would have a conniption fit if he found out she was wondering around the ship when he had just about banned her, Carlos, and Andros to their quarters.  She never saw him so scared as when the three had doubled over in pain in the command shortly after their conversation with TJ.  A short and thorough examination in the infirmary informed them that they were having aftershocks from the electrical pulse that Wasvat had sent coursing through their bodies after TJ and Cassie had fled for their lives.  It was believed that the electricity causing the pain would eventually dissipate, and that the process would be less risky and more comfortable if they were resting.  Unfortunately for Zhane, this didn't go over to well with the afflicted rangers.  Unfortunately for the rangers, Zhane's rarely-used temper could be extremely… persuasive.  Ashley had never seem the silver ranger so adamant or, to be quite frank, scary.  Perhaps it was the fact that he had never even raised his voice to them before, but the intense red color in his face and his intimidating stature convinced them that perhaps rest was best for their weary bodies.  

Buy Ashley couldn't rest.  Instead, she aimlessly wandered around the ship, completely aware that D.E.C.A. was watching her every move.  She found the presence of the on-board computer reassuring, knowing that, while the computer respected her enough to allow her a few moments of peace to clear her mind, should Ashley need any assistance D.E.C.A. would not hesitate to alert Zhane to her distress.  

            The yellow ranger wasn't sure of where she was going and she really didn't care, so long as it was far away from her mean-tempered comrade.  She really didn't need to hear a lecture right now.  Ashley had her head down as she thought of what Cassie and TJ must be going through at that moment and she didn't notice she was right on a collision course into the black ranger, Carlos Valertes.  

*WHACK * The friends walked straight into each other and fell onto the floor.  

"Ouch," Carlos said, rubbing his chest.  "Damn, Ash, you have a hard forehead."

"Foreheads are supposed to be hard.  Your chin, on the other hand, could stand to be sanded down some," Ashley countered, while massaging the top of her head.  Sometimes being short was a bad thing.  

Carlos stooped down and started to pick up the numerous pieces of paper that he had been carrying in his arms before the head-on collision, which were scattered all over the floor.  Ashley tried to help but he wouldn't let her, saying, "I have it.  Don't bother."  

"Um, alright," she said, hesitantly.  She paused, debating whether or not to ignore Carlos and help or simply leave the black ranger alone.  She knelt down on the floor, eye-level with her best friend.  Her and Carlos had been friends since they were toddlers and she knew when something was wrong with him.  At the moment, something was very wrong, indeed.  "Carlos, is something bothering you?"  
  


"No," came the very curt reply.

Ashley waited, not knowing how to talk to him.  When he didn't say anything else, she said, "You know that if you ever need to talk to someone, I'm more than happy to listen."

"Okay."  

He finished gathering up the papers, one of which Ashley could see was a map.  Sensing that Carlos wasn't in the mood to chat or answer any questions, she filed that fact away to ask him about later.  She slowly turned and began to walk away when she heard Carlos clear his throat.  She turned back around expectantly.

"Look, Ash, I'm sorry.  I don't mean to be so… mean.  I'm just in a very weird mood, I guess," he said, shuffling his feet and looking down.

Ashley lightly laughed, and said, "Are you pms-ing again?  Honestly, Carlos…"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry, I just can't help it.  This happens to me every month." he replied.  They both cracked up laughing.  "Oh, shhh, shhh, shhh…"  Carlos put a finger to his lips, while trying not to laugh.  "Speaking of mood-swings…"

"Oh, right.  We don't want to bring the hounds of hell down on us again."

"D.E.C.A. won't say anything to him, do you think?"

"No," Ashley said, shaking her head.  "Just don't pass out or go into a seizure-…"

"Or wander around too long," the on-board computer's voice rang out in the hallway.

"Alright, D.E.C.A., I'm on my way back to my quarters right now," Carlos laughed, looking up at the camera that was mounted on the wall, one of many that served as D.E.C.A.'s eyes aboard the ship.  Then he became serious and before leaving Ashley in the corridor, he said, "Really, Ash, I'm sorry."  

She leaned forward and captured him in a hug.  "It's okay.  We're all under a lot of stress."

He smiled and waved goodbye and then set off down the corridor towards his quarters.  As he walked, his mind went over the information that he was carrying in his arms.  He was very glad that Ashley hadn't asked him about what was on the papers because he honestly wasn't sure how he would respond.  He was certain she had seen the map but she hadn't said anything so maybe she didn't realize that it was a map of the caves at Angel Grove Beach.

Ashley watched him walk away down the corridor and then sighed and headed in the opposite direction, her mind now set on where she going.  The conversation with Carlos had made it clear- they were all hurting and they were all dealing with it in different ways.  Zhane was angry, Carlos was depressed, and she realized that she was doing everything in her power to distract herself.  The only one that she hadn't really felt out yet was Andros and from what she had seen so far, he was taking it the hardest.  His vacant expression during his recounting of what had happened to the first yellow Astro Ranger was haunting her and she couldn't help but think that maybe he had had feelings for this 'girl'.  'The girl'… that was how he had referred to Ashley's predecessor.  There was no name, just 'girl'.  He also hadn't mentioned how it was that Wasvat had managed to drive her insane.  What did that bastard do to her to make her commit suicide a year later?  Ashley wasn't going to force him to talk about it, if he didn't want to.  Something told her that he wanted to, though.

A few short minutes later, Ashley found herself standing outside Andros' quarters.  She took a deep breath and knocked.  When there was no answer, she knocked again then called out to him.  "Andros, can I come in?" she asked, unaware that Andros was coming down the corridor, right behind her.  "I know that right now is hard on everyone but I think we all can get through this as long was we stick together.  We have to, for Cassie."  Still, there was no answer.  Concerned that D.E.C.A. might feel that Ashley had been out a bit longer than she should have and alert Zhane, she started to turn to head back to her quarters.  She turned and bumped right into Andros.  Laughing, she said, "I really have to stop doing that."

"Doing what?" Andros asked.  "And, might I ask what you're doing standing outside my quarters, talking to my door?"  He looked amused, which helped Ashley relax.  She was worried that he might be angry with her.

"Well, I seem to keep running into people, literally," she said.  Andros arched his eyebrow at this, and she continued, "And I thought I was talking to you."

"Wow, we really need to get your eyes checked," he said, playfully. 

"Ha ha, very funny," she laughed, lightly punching his arm. 

Andros looked suspiciously down both directions of the corridor and then whispered, "I think D.E.C.A.'s going to sic Zhane on me any second, so let's go inside."

"Alright," she whispered back.  Andros leaned around her and entered the code to open the door to his quarters.  They quickly walked in and shut the door behind them.

Ashley sat down on the chair at his desk and looked around the neat room.  She'd come to Andros' quarters a few times to fetch him for a meal or to go down to Earth, but she had never actually been inside long enough to really see it.  It was surprisingly a bit more relaxed than she would have thought.  It was organized but not to the point of obsessive compulsive.  Her eyes fell on a picture sitting on a table next to his bed.  She reached over and picked it up, then looked down to find the happy faces of Zhane, Karone, and Andros as children staring up at her. She smiled and put it back.  "You three were adorable."

"That was taken shortly before she was kidnapped," Andros said from his bed, while he pulled out some sandwiches from a bag he had slung over his shoulder.  Ashley had been so startled by Andros' sudden appearance she hadn't even noticed that he had a bag with him.

"Andros, what were you doing out in the corridors?" she asked, as she watched him remove 3 sandwiches from his bag, along with a jug of juice.

"I had the… um… what do call them?  The mungies?"

Ashley laughed.  "The munchies?"

"Yeah, that's it.  And I wanted to go for a walk.  D.E.C.A. was fine with me getting food, but once I started to wander, she started to make threats."  He half-laughed then sighed and sat down on the bed.  "I needed to think."

"Do you need to talk?"

Once again, he sighed.  "I need to eat."

"Then talk?"

He smiled, but he had a distant look in his eyes.  "Then talk."  He picked up a sandwich and offered it to Ashley.  "Egg salad.  Your favorite."

Ashley gave an exaggerated evil laugh and said, "I have corrupted you with egg salad sandwiches.  I now control your brain!" 

Andros laughed and patted the bed next to him.

The pair sat next to each other and finished eating in silence.  When all three sandwiches were gone, one split down the middle to share, and the jug of juice empty, Ashley finally spoke again.  "Andros, what was her name?"

"Roxurel, but she was known to her friends as Roxi," he said quietly.

Ashley was shocked and elated.  She didn't expect Andros to be so open.  "Why didn't you call her by her name?" she asked, taking his hand and trying to make it less painful for him.

He said, "I guess not saying her name makes it less personal.  I can deal with it better."

"I don't want to intrude and you don't have to answer this," she said hastily.  "But, um… how personal was it?"

"You mean did I have feelings for her?"

Ashley nodded.

"No, she was about 2 years younger than me and my complete opposite.  I thought of her more as a little sister than anything else."

"So when you found out she was dead, it was like losing Karone all over again," Ashley said, squeezing his hand reassuringly.  "How did he do it?  How did he drive her mad?"  When Andros was silent, she promptly apologized.  "I don't mean to pry, and if you don't want to talk about it-…"

"No, I want to.  I need to talk about it."  He took a deep breath and pushed on.  "He captured the pink, black, and blue rangers, along with Roxi.  They were tortured and killed in front of her.  We were able to draw Wasvat out and attack him.  We weakened him severely and he retreated.  When we found them-," he paused, and drew a shuddering breath.  "When we found them, the other rangers were in pieces and Roxi was cowering in a corner rocking back and forth and sobbing hysterically."

Ashley let go of Andros' hand reached over to pull him to her.  There was nothing she could possibly say at that moment so she just held him as he started to cry.  After a few minutes, she slowly pulled away from him and stood up.  She cleared away the wrappers from the sandwiches and moved the juice jug onto the desk.  Then she kneeled down on the floor and removed Andros' boots.  Next, she pulled off this uniform jacket and shirt, folded them nicely, and set them aside.  

The entire time, Andros simply sat on the bed, numb and exhausted.  He barely noticed as Ashley removed his shirt and boots.  He finally realized what she was doing when she pulled back his sheets as best she could with him sitting on them and helped him to get under the covers.  She started to move towards the door when he grabbed her hand, pulling her back.  Understanding the unspoken command, Ashley pulled off her own boots and jacket and was about to get into the bed with Andros when he climbed out again.  "You're going to be uncomfortable."  He opened up his dresser and pulled out one of his civilian shirts and a pair of cotton sleeping pants.  "These may be a bit big but they're better than a uniform."  Ashley smiled and went into his bathroom to change.  

When she came out, Andros too was in a pair of sleeping pants (and nothing else, she noticed with a tingle) and waiting patiently for her.  They climbed in under the covers and as she relished the feel of his bare skin under her cheek as she rested her head on his chest after kissing it a few times.  

As their time alone wore on, the pair became much more adventuresome with their roaming hands and lips.  When they finally fell asleep, all of the clothes they had worn to bed were strewn about the floor and they were curled up, a mass of arms and legs as if they were one being. 

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A/N: so, is that satisfactory for all of you Andros/Ashley supporters? I tried my best w/o it becoming NC-17 ^_^.

Next chapter- more TJ/Cassie! And I'll try to get in another Andros/Ashley chapter plus some of those smiles and special looks…


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